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Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Cycling Workout 10: Inspirational Riding!

Hey all,
So I got a good ride for everyone to do today... or whenever.
First, take a piece of paper and a pen and write down the name of someone or something that inspires you or motivates you. Tape it on your bike, handle bars, make a mental note of it, etc. and then hop on the bike. Throughout this workout, especially once we get to the main set, I want you to keep this image in your head. I want you to ride for this person, thing, goal, etc. This mental training is very important cycling, especially for the long intervals we are about to do!

Total time: 60 minutes

Warm-up:
-7 minute warm-up, level 3-4, easy flat tempo
-4 minutes of one leg isolations, level 5, one minute each leg, 9 rpm

Main Set: *See P.S. (think at the bottom) for the info. on inspirational image
- Flat road, start level 5, push 2 minutes and gradually increase intensity to level 6, 90-100 rpm
-30 seconds out of the saddle jog, level 4-5, flat road
-Flat road, start level 5, push 3 minutes and gradually increase intensity to level 6, 90-100 rpm
-30 seconds out of the saddle jog, level 4-5, flat road
-Flat road, start level 5, push 4 minutes and gradually increase intensity to level 7, 90-100 rpm

-2 minute active recovery, level 4-5, base/organic pace in or out of saddle

-Start on moderate hill (so add tension) at the beginning of every interval:
Interval 1: climb 3 minutes, add resistance (think quarter to half turn if on a spin bike) every 1 minute, hold your pace throughout.
-reset resistance back to moderate (original) tension/hill and do 30 second out of the saddle jog
Interval 2: climb 4 minutes, add resistance every 1 minute, hold pace throughout
-reset resistance back to original hill and do 30 second out of saddle jog
Interval 3: climb 5 minutes, add resistance every 1 minute, hold pace throughout
-reset resistance back to original hill and do 30 second out of saddle jog
Interval 4: climb 6 minutes, add resistance every 1 minute, hold pace throughout

-Go back to flat road, 2 minute recovery, easy spin, level 4-5, 100-120 rpm

-Push for 5 minutes on flat road, start level 5 and gradually increase speed/intensity to level 7, 90-100 rpm.

Cool Down:
Nice easy spin for remainder of the hour.

P.S. (Profile Summary)
The goal of this workout is to get you used to pushing for longer intervals in the saddle, both on the flats and on the hills. This should be a challenging workout, and it should keep you in that aerobic zone for most of the hour. However, it should not put you into the lactic threshold/anaerobic zone if done correctly.
The point of the inspirational image was get you through each of the long intervals. By visualizing a person or image that inspires you, hopefully, this motivated you to maintain a good effort for each long interval (like you are riding to make them proud). This type of imagery is great to use for mental training.

Special thanks to Sudie Teszler for the inspiration behind this workout/ride!  

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for the recognition! I think everyone will be surprised how much it helps to have that mental imaginary on the longer intervals. Get out and ride!!

    ReplyDelete